Welcome to this weeks Scavenger Hunt and It's the turn of Chinakay. This one is really going to test your powers of not only search, but also of deduction.
Good Luck and Good Hunting.
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China's Scavenger Hunt: The Great Moore Mystery
Please read this introduction carefully to avoid duplicating research. We shall start in 1913 and move backward in time....<cue spooky music >I asked my OH which of my brick walls I should present to you, and he said, “The hardest one.” I warn you, this hunt shall take place in Quebec and New Brunswick and there are not many records available. Anything you can dig up beyong the pitiful little pile of information I already have will be gladly received. Even if you have to make something up. Just kidding. Maybe....
My Great-Grandfather was George Moore. He is buried in Mt Royal Cemetery in Montreal (their website is:
http://www.mountroyalcem.com/products_services/genealogy/index.aspx?lang=en-CAand the index is free, but records cost $5 Cdn):
The records state:
Married
Born: St. John's, NB
Died: 10 January 1913
Aged: 72 years
Late residence/place of death: 236 Mullarkey Avenue, Verdun, Quebec
He was buried from Pte St Charles Congregational, which is not in Verdun where he died, but nearby. Verdun is not actually part of Montreal, but is located on the Island of Montreal.
His occupation: Tinsmith, or Ferblantier in French. He appears several times in the Montreal directory, as a tinsmith. The family moved constantly, as moving is a hallowed pastime in Montreal…all leases expired on May 1st (July 1st more recently) and everybody loaded up the wagons and traded houses.
He is not found in the 1911 census.
He is found in the 1901 census:
http://tinyurl.com/2o55ojThe census-taker, who actually went door-to-door, was French-speaking. The place of birth abbreviation is NE, or Nouvelle-Ecosse, which is French for Nova Scotia (when I was growing up, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were interchangeable to me. Actually at one point, back in the late 1700s, they were both Nova Scotia)…Religion given is Methodist… Images of the census available, free, by clicking on stuff at the top of the page.
The 1891 census is not indexed. It is viewable street-by-street, and since I do not know where the family was living I have not viewed any of the films.
George is in the Montreal directory in 1879-80 (at 35 Centre St) and in 1900-01 (at 191 Chaussé). Nothing in between.
Moving back to the 1881 census… I believe I have the right family…I can’t give you a link to it, so please access the Canadian census at FamilySearch and enter George Moore, born 1843, census province Quebec.
Note that George’s wife is Mary in 1881, and Isabella in 1901. Nothing unusual with a remarriage, except I can’t find any marriages, or deaths, not in Canada, not in England. No suitable Isabel(la) is buried in Mt Royal Cemetery in Montreal. Can’t find a marriage in NB. Can’t find William’s birth in NB. Can’t find George’s birth in NB. Can’t find any of their births in NB. New Brunswick Provincial Archives are at:
http://archives.gnb.ca/APPS/GovRecs/VISSE/Default.aspx?culture=en-CAA note about cemeteries in the Province of Quebec: the two big ones in Montreal are segregated according to religion. Mount Royal is a Protestant cemetery. Notre-Dame-des-Neiges is Catholic, so as my Moore family was Protestant we may discount any Moores found in NDN.
The puzzle(s):
• Are the 1881 and 1901 families the same? Frank seems to be the key. Why is he listed last in 1901?
• Are Mary and Isabella the same? Can’t find a marriage to either one.
• Where did George come from…who was his daddy?
Bunch of side notes:
In England, there are 10 possible George Moore/Mary marriages on FBMD in 1864.
Also 3 George Moore/Isabella from 1862-1866.
There were about 100 William Moores born in England in 1865.
Crayton is actually Frederick Crayton. He died 1946.
Allister is Allister Irving, d 1950. Both these names would seem to be in keeping with the 1881 family’s penchant for fancy middle names.
Why would you have an Eddy and an Edward in the same family? I wonder if “Eddy” could be a girl…Allister (my grandfather) had a daughter named Edith, who was called Edie (my aunt).
There is an e-book called The Moores of Moores Mills, NB (or something like that) It is nothing but genealogy, but I’ve read the whole thing and there is no likely George mentioned.
You can plot the journey of the 1881 family to Quebec by looking at a map. There is a road straight from St John to Montreal, just about:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/02pn/No birth found in the IGI for a suitable Moore in Maine…if the family was itinerant during this time it’s unlikely the birth would be registered, I think.
I have not been able to find William in 1901, in all of Canada.
Annie Walker Moore…Walker seems like a great maiden name for her mother but I haven’t found a George Moore marrying one….although there is an Anne Walker marrying on the same page as a George J Moore in Clerkenwell in 1866.
There are a few newspaper references to a George Moore, tinsmith, here:
http://archives.gnb.ca/APPS/NewspaperVitalStats/?culture=en-CAThat's about it...if you turn up anything I'll send you champagne. Virtual, of course
Cheers,
China
